Pages

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Dogs Select Czech D-Man 5th Overall

The Saint John Sea Dogs used the fifth overall pick in
today’s Canadian Hockey League Import Draft to select Czech defenseman Jakub Zboril.

Zboril is 1997 born, making him eligible for next year’s
NHL Draft. He is listed at just under 6’1” and 185 lbs.

According to Elite Prospects, the d-man played in 36
games with HC Kometa Brno U20 last season and
recorded five goals and 16 assists. In 27 games with the Czech Republic
under-18 team, he registered four goals and six assists.

Jerome Berube of HockeyProspect.com calls Zboril a “two
way defenseman who can play physical.”

"This big defenseman is as versatile as they come and has
the potential to become a star in the National Hockey League,” writes Radoslav
Vavrina of Hockey’s Future. “On the blue line, he tends to use his cannon shot
often, which creates a lot of good opportunities, but he can pass the puck, as
well. In his own zone, Zbořil either uses his body to flatten players to gain
control of the puck, or he can accomplish this with his stick. The best thing
about him is that he's a 2015 NHL Draft prospect
and has more than a year to become a top prospect in his draft year."

Zboril is the younger brother of Adam Zboril who used to
play with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan.

Saint John picks again at 65th overall.

The OHL’s Sarnia Sting selected Czech forward Pavel Zacha
with the first overall pick. He is touted as a top-10 pick for the loaded 2015
NHL Draft. It appears as though this was a terrible pick by the Sting.

Sarnia just wasted the #1 overall pick in the
CHL Import Draft on a player who's not coming and has a professional
contract. #RookieGM
—
Allan Walsh (@walsha) July
2, 2014

The Quebec Remparts had the QMJHL’s first pick with the
No. 2 selection. The 2015 Memorial Cup hosts selected Vladislav Kamenev, a
Russian forward who was selected by the Nashville Predators in last weekend’s
NHL Draft.